Tallon Smith

A dominant opening 60 minutes secured Temora’s first competition points of the new season and the Group 9 Challenge Cup in a 36-22 win over Young at Alfred Oval on Saturday.

The Dragons opened up a 36-0 advantage on top of their 8.5 points start for the cup through the opening hour of play, with the lead being enough for the side to withstand losses due to injury and a late fightback from the Cherrypickers for a 14-point victory.

Temora opened the scoring in the eighth minute through second rower Billy Reardon, who crashed over off a short ball from five-eighth Jake McGovern, before fullback Hamish Starr doubled the margin to 12-0 when he stepped and sliced through the Young defence on the left side six minutes later.

McGovern added a try to go with his assist in the 26th minute, beating several Young players including new signing and fullback Jade Anderson to a Will Dean grubber in the in-goal, before he added the conversion and a penalty goal to give Temora a 20-0 lead at the break.

The red and white wave continued on the other side, with Starr chasing and catching one of his own bombs, before linking with Reardon who found winger Khaileb Cameron-Pani for his first try in a Dragons jersey.

Fellow new recruit Bailey Wallace also got his name on the scoresheet soon after when he burrowed over from dummy half, before Jimmy Stewart followed his own linebreak three minutes later by finding debutant Lachie Cole for a memorable four-pointer and a 36-0 lead.

The tide finally turned as the match entered its final quarter, with Young running in four tries, two of which went to Lachlan Bailey, while Winiata Cherrington and Max Jones also got their names on the scoresheet to make the final margin a more respectable 36-22.

Temora coach Jordon Burley said that he was happy with his side’s performance particularly given the adversity they faced, with a number of players unable to return to the field with injuries sustained during the match.

“It was pleasing to put in a good performance, they scored a few late tries there, but we had a few unfortunate injuries,” he said. 

“I think we lost two centres, lost our first centre after three minutes to a hamstring and lost the other one, and they burnt through our interchanges, so we went the last 20 [minutes] with one interchange.

“The boys were pretty gassed, and I think we fell away simply due to fatigue, but other than that the first 60 minutes was some really good footy so that was pleasing.”

After a disappointing first up loss to Cootamundra, the Dragons bounced back against Young in a performance closer to the one which saw the side reach the final of the West Wyalong Knockout back in February.

When asked about what the difference was compared to a fortnight ago, Burley said the turnaround came as a result of returning to the side’s structures and systems, before adding that the late drop off was largely influenced by the side being reduced to one man on the bench in the final quarter of the game.

“Obviously we were really disappointed [with] the way we played in round one against a good Coota side, but we just knew that we didn’t play to anywhere near what we’re capable of and went away [from] what we were good at,” he said.

“We showed glimpses at West Wyalong, we fell away from it against Coota, we had a good opening 20 but we dropped off for large chunks of that game, but we started really well [today] and we just stuck to our system.

“I think the tries come off the back of that when you’re not chasing points, points will just come off the back of completing sets and holding the ball and getting to a kick.

“As for the points late, we were down to one interchange with 20 to go, we had boys cramping and it’s round two, so match fitness probably isn not where it is going to be later on.”

Aside from consistent stars McGovern and Starr, two of the Dragons better performers in the victory were Wallace and Cameron-Pani, with both getting their name on the scoresheet for the first time in Temora colours.

Burley said he was pleased with the showing of both of the new recruits, who played their roles excellently in a strong all-round team performance.

“They both played really well today,” he said.

“Bailey just brings a bit of a sense of direction, he’s got good voice and he’s pretty strong in defence, and Khaileb had some really strong carries today and really got us on the front foot coming out of trouble, so they’ve both been awesome.”

Another player that impressed coach Burley was tryscoring debutant Lachie Cole, who excelled in the centres after filling the void left by the injury to Will McDermott.

“Lachie Cole debuted today at [number] 14 and he ended up getting chucked into the centres,” he said. 

“He played really well and ended up scoring as well, so all of those new boys have played really good footy and they’ve been important to us.”

Bulls take Wagga bragging rights in local derby

Next up for Temora is a clash with South City, which also opened its account for the season on Saturday with a 20-15 win over Wagga Kangaroos at Geohex Park on Saturday afternoon.

Without representative forward Brody Tracey following his recent retirement after a serious heart scare, and injured star playmaker Nathan Rose, the Bulls overcame their cross-town rivals courtesy of a double to fullback Jumarne Little-Kearnes.

After Little-Kearnes’ first try saw the Bulls draw level at 14-all, the Kangaroos went in front again through a field goal from halfback and captain Zeik Foster.

However, the Bulls made the most of a late opportunity when halfback Josh Seigwalt recovered his own kick and found Little-Kearnes for his second to seal a five-point victory.

Around the Grounds

The Cootamundra Bulldogs are the only unbeaten side in Group 9 through the opening two rounds after a 28-22 win over the Junee Diesels at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday.

The Bulldogs overcame the send off of front rower Tai Vaavale and a further 10-minute reduction to 11 men to emerge victorious a hard-fought local derby.

Five Bulldogs tries, including two to James Paterson, and one each to Joe Ward, Luke Berkrey, Jai Willoughby saw the Bulldogs leading 26-6 heading into the final 10 minutes, before the Diesels hit back with three late tries to give the appearance of a closer contest.

Meanwhile, Albury secured its first victory of the campaign with a 32-12 win over Wagga Brothers at Greenfield Park on Sunday.

Winger and new recruit Siale Lavulavu scored two of the Thunder’s seven tries, while representative stars Lachy Munro and Vili Cerei also crossed in the home win over the club’s former Group 13 rivals.

Finally, the Gundagai Tigers got their start to the season back on track with a 36-0 shutout of the Tumut Blues at Twickenham Oval.

Centre James Morgan led the scorers with two of Gundagai’s seven tries in the match as the Tigers bounced back from their last start loss to Junee at home in round one.

Cover Photo: Tahlia Crane Photography